The Vaavu atoll council decided on Tuesday to ask the government to designate Hulhidhoo as a picnic island as pledged by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
The president pledged to develop a picnic island for Vaavu atoll during a campaign visit to Thinadhoo in July 2018.
Some people wanted to reclaim land to create a picnic island but others favored a picnic island that was connected to an inhabited island, the president said at the time. The decision will be up to the public, he had pledged.
The Vaavu atoll council decided at its 30th meeting with the votes of three out of four members to ask the president to designate Hulhidhoo as a picnic island.
Vaavu atoll council president Ibrahim Shujau said Solih's running mate MP Mohamed Aslam has been asked to relay the request to the president.
Hulhidhoo was leased for agriculture for 21 years to a company called Aarah Investment in 2016. But no farming was done on the island and the period offered to begin work also elapsed.
Citing breach of agreement with the failure to develop the island during the stipulated period, the Vaavu atoll council decided to reclaim the uninhabited island on April 28, 2022.
As part of efforts to take back Hulhidhoo, atoll council members and residents of Vaavu atoll islands also staged a protest on the island, after which riot police were deployed and the protesters were told to leave. The protest was suspended for talks but the Hulhidhoo issue remained unresolved.
